Department for Communities and Local Government

Local Government: Newspaper Press

Lord Porter of Spalding: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 23 January (HL4428), what is the timeframe for their decision on how to respond to the findings of the pilot programmes; and whether the response will be published.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: We will decide how best to respond to the findings of the pilot programmes on statutory notices once we have concluded consideration of those findings.

Shops: Non-domestic Rates

Baroness Rebuck: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the risk of independent bookshops closing as a result of an increase in the rateable value of their property following re-assessment by the Valuation Office Agency.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: Business rates are based on valuations from the Valuation Office Agency and we do not intervene in their independent assessments. Nearly three quarters of businesses will see no change or a fall in their bills from 1 April thanks to the business rates revaluation with 600,000 businesses set to pay no business rates at all. We have put in place a £3.6 billion transitional relief scheme for England to support ratepayers at the 2017 revaluation.

Shops: Community Assets

Baroness Rebuck: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to give Asset of Community Value status to high street bookshops.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: The Community Right to Bid empowers communities to nominate buildings or land for listing by the local authority as an asset of community value if the asset furthers the community’s social well-being or social interests and is likely to do so in the future. Nominations and listings are matters for local people and the local authority. DCLG has put in place a support and advice service run by Locality: www.mycommunity.org.uk provides free advice and practical help for community groups.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

EURATOM

Lord Balfe: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the decision to leave the EU, what will be the UK's future relationship with EURATOM.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The UK supports Euratom and is seeking to ensure continuity of co-operation and standards. This Government remains committed to the highest standards of nuclear safety, safeguards and support for the industry.

European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts

Lord Balfe: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the UK's exit from the EU, whether the UK will cease to participate in the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts; and if so, when the Centre will relocate away from the UK.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is an independent intergovernmental treaty organisation including both EU and non-EU member and co-operating states. There are no plans for the UK to cease to be a member of ECMWF and we remain committed to hosting the organisation in the UK.

Wind Power

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the amount of electricity generated by onshore wind farms in each of the last six months.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Monthly generation estimates are not available; however, the latest available quarterly estimates are published in Energy Trends table 6.1:UK electricity generation from onshore wind, Apr-Jun 2016 and Jul-Sep 2016(1)(2)  GWh 2016 Q2 (Apr-Jun)2016 Q3 (Jul-Sep)Onshore Wind electricity generation4,0284,566   Source: Energy Trends 6.1, December 2016, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/energy-trends-section-6-renewables(1) Generation figures for the latest quarter are provisional.(2) Actual generation figures are given where available. Otherwise they are estimated using a typical load factor or the design load factor, where known. Generation from Feed-in Tariff schemes is estimated this way.



Energy Trends 6.1
(PDF Document, 85.43 KB)

Job Creation: Graduates

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the proportion of new jobs created in each of the last five years which required a university degree.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Government does not hold data on new jobs created in each of the last five years that requires a university degree.

Multinational Companies

Baroness Janke: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many companies have announced a relocation of (1) all, or (2) part of, their operations from the UK, following the announcement that the UK will leave the single market; and what additional support is being provided for British workers who lose their jobs as a result of such relocations.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Companies relocate operations for many different commercial reasons.Since the UK voted to leave the EU, we have worked closely with firms across the country to understand their plans and make clear our commitment to a bold and ambitious free trade agreement with the EU that removes as many barriers to trade as possible. Companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Nissan and Apple have announced major investments in the UK since the referendum.In the event of redundancies, the Government looks to support affected workers back into employment via the Rapid Response Service. We closely monitor major job losses and will look to provide bespoke support if required.

Industry: Rural Areas

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on rural areas of the proposed Industrial Strategy.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The industrial strategy is an opportunity to make the most of the diverse strengths of all of the UK’s cities and regions, including rural areas. Government is already taking a range of steps to improve productivity in rural areas, for example through investment in digital infrastructure. Our industrial strategy Green Paper seeks views on how we can take further steps to drive improved productivity in growth in all parts of the country, including rural areas.

EURATOM

Lord Wigley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what services, provisions or assistance are provided to the UK as a result of the UK's membership of the European Atomic Energy Community, EURATOM; and in the event of the UK withdrawing from the EU, how any such benefits will be affected or replaced.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Euratom provides the legal framework for civil nuclear power generation and radioactive waste management across the European Union. Specifically, it covers nuclear safeguards, and the movement and trade of nuclear materials between Member States and third countries. This Government remains committed to the highest standards of nuclear safety, safeguards and support for the industry.Whilst membership of Euratom has served the UK well, the benefits of Euratom membership can be achieved through other means as well. The UK will remain publicly accountable on nuclear safety matters through our membership of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA’s legal frameworks for the nuclear sector are the basis on which the Euratom Community and the UK’s own domestic regime is based; there is no intention to weaken the current standards. The UK’s future nuclear safeguards arrangements will continue to provide the quality, safety and robustness that currently exist under Euratom.

Sizewell C Power Station

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to make a decision as to whether to proceed with the second nuclear power station in a generation at Sizewell.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The timetable for the development of Sizewell C is a matter for the developer EDF Energy. EDF Energy is currently consulting publicly on its proposals for this site.

Whirlpool Corporation: Yate

Baroness Janke: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with representatives of Whirlpool Corporation regarding its plans to restructure its European operations and the possible loss of manufacturing jobs at its factory in Yate.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Whirlpool informed the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of their plans to restructure their manufacturing base ahead of the announcement made on 24 January.The Government recognises the important contribution that the manufacturing sector makes to Britain's economy. The Department is supporting manufacturers by cutting corporation tax to 17% by 2020 and cutting red tape by a further £10billion. We are investing in new scientific infrastructure on a record scale by delivering on the £6.9bn science capital commitment in our manifesto, and at the Autumn Statement 2016 we announced that we will make the UK the global go-to nation for scientists, innovators and advanced manufacturing investors, by investing an extra £2bn a year in R&D by the end of this Parliament.

Department for Education

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the forecast reduction in funding per pupil in real terms for mainstream schools between 2014–15 and 2019–20.

Lord Nash: We want schools to have the resources they need so that every child has access to an education that enables their potential. That is why we have protected the core schools budget in real terms overall. In 2016-17 it will be the largest ever on record, totalling over £40 billion. We are introducing a national fair funding formula so schools are funded according to their pupils’ needs. The proposals we are currently consulting on will mean an end to the postcode lottery in school funding and will help to create a system that funds schools according to the needs of their pupils, rather than where they happen to live. Under the proposed national schools funding formula, more than half of England’s schools will receive a cash boost in 2018-19. The new formula will also give head teachers certainty over their future budgets, helping them make long term plans and secure further efficiencies. We recognise that schools, as with other public services, are facing cost pressures. These will include salary increases, increases to employers’ National Insurance and Teachers’ Pension Scheme contributions, and general inflation. On a per pupil basis, these pressures are estimated at around 8% between 2016-17 and 2019-20. It is important to note that this is not an estimate of pressures still to come – over the next three years, per pupil pressures will average 1.5-1.6%, a year. In response to this we have produced tools, information and guidance for schools financial health and efficiency, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/schools-financial-health-and-efficiency.We are increasingly tailoring and targeting our offer to ensure the schools who are most in need of our support receive it. We also know there is significant scope for savings in non-pay and procurement costs. We have launched a school buying strategy to support schools to save over £1bn a year by 2019-20 on their non-staff spend. In practice, this means schools can invest more of their resources in the classroom, making even more of a difference to the children that need it most.

Schools: Homophobia

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 1 February (HL5039), how far their three-year programme to prevent and address homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in schools has progressed; whether an action plan for the programme has been published; on what basis (1) local authorities, (2) academy chains, and (3) individual schools, have been contacted to seek information about their experience of such bullying; and how the programme funds are being spent.

Lord Nash: The Government announced a £2.8m investment in tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic (HBT) bullying in September 2016. This followed the successful completion of a £2m pilot programme last year. Since we announced this programme, a further £0.2m has been allocated in order to enable more robust evaluation and quality assurance of the programme. This brings the total to £3.0m.Six grantee organisations were selected through open competition to deliver innovative schemes to tackle HBT bullying in schools which have no or ineffective measures in place. These were: Barnardo’s, LGBT Consortium, Metro Charity, National Children’s Bureau, Proud Trust and Stonewall. The Government has also contracted with the PSHE Association to quality assure the resources produced as part of the programme and Sheffield Hallam University to assess the impact of the programme. The funding for the programme is split between these organisations.Since September, the six grantees have been further developing their implementation plans and they have been registering schools to be part of the programme. The aim is that the grantees will start working with schools during 2017. An action plan for the current programme has not been published and we do not intend to do so. We published the evidence from the pilot programme on GOV.UK in July 2016. A report demonstrating the evidence from, and the impact of, the current programme will be published after this programme concludes in 2019.The Government has used a wide variety of evidence to inform its decision to tackle HBT bullying, including external research and the evidence from the 2015-2016 pilot programme. The organisations funded through the programme have been and will continue to be in regular contact with local authorities, academy chains and individual schools as they are recruiting schools.

Ministry of Justice

Prison Officers: Recruitment

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether their planned recruitment of prison staff includes staff for private prisons as well as public sector prisons; and if so, how many will be recruited for each sector.

Lord Keen of Elie: The planned recruitment of 2,500 new prison officers and estimated 5,500 replacements relates to public sector prison staff. Private providers are required to maintain a sufficient number of staff, with the requisite level of skill and experience to ensure that the Prison is safe, secure and decent environment. We are engaging with private providers on how the new staffing model outlined in the Prison Safety and Reform White Paper will be implemented in private prisons.

Gender: Discrimination

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prosecutions have been brought for unlawful sexual discrimination in the field of employment in each of the last three years.

Lord Keen of Elie: Sexual discrimination is not a prosecutable offence. Employment tribunals are not criminal courts and therefore it is not possible to prosecute for unlawful sexual discrimination before an employment tribunal.

Youth Justice: Travellers

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the recommendations by the Traveller Movement in its report Overlooked and Overrepresented: Gypsy, Traveller and Roma children in the youth justice system, to address the poorer outcomes for Gypsy, Traveller and Roma children in youth justice, and in particular the case for the Youth Justice Board to update its ethnicity data collection system to include Gypsy and Traveller categories.

Lord Keen of Elie: We have made clear that, outcomes for children in custody are not good enough. This is evident for all young offenders, including those who identify as Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT). It is noteworthy, however, that in the 2015/16 ‘Children in Custody’ report that describes the number of GRT children in young offender institutions (YOI), that participation in education, work or vocational or skills training in custody is higher for those identifying as GRT in YOIs when compared to the rest of the cohort. In December we set out our response to Charlie Taylor’s review of the youth justice system and how we will improve outcomes for young people across the youth custodial estate. Measures include developing a new pre-apprenticeship pathway to ensure that all children and young people are in education, training or employment on their release, boosting the number of front line staff in YOIs and developing two ‘secure schools’ with a particular focus on education and health.  The Youth Justice Board (YJB) is keen in principle to move to the 18+1 ethnicity monitoring system from the 2011 Census and is examining the requirements and dependencies with existing IT systems and identifying the feasibility and indicative costs of moving to the revised classification system.

Young Offenders: Travellers

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration has been given to establishing and promoting Gypsy, Traveller and Roma groups in Secure Training Centres and Young Offenders Institutions, based on successful models seen in the secure adult estate.

Lord Keen of Elie: We have already introduced elements from the models used in the adult estate in Young Offender Institutions (YOIs). These include guidance on good practice, which is available to all staff and includes guidance on those identifying as Gypsy, Romany or Traveller (GRT); and issues for the management of GRT young people which is incorporated into the general training of new officers. We are committed to improving the outcomes for all young people in the youth justice system, including those who identify as GRT. We want all young people in custody to have their individual needs assessed and a personal plan in place to drive improvements in their behaviour, education and health.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Charities: Regulation

Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to introduce the Law Commission Bill on Charity Regulation.

Lord Ashton of Hyde: The Law Commission expects to publish its report on technical issues in charity law, together with a draft bill, this summer. The Government will need to consider the report and its recommendations carefully.

Department for Work and Pensions

Access to Work Programme

Baroness Randerson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they intend to increase awareness of Access to Work among employers.

Lord Henley: We are increasing awareness of Access to Work among employers through a range of communications, including using the Disability Confident campaign to provide information to employer organisations. Planned communications activity includes direct e-mail marketing to employers and employer associations, employer engagement at a national level through Jobcentre Plus National Employer and Partnership Team, and proactive local engagement through Jobcentre Plus partnerships managers, Disability Employment Advisers and employer advisers. We are also working closely with Remploy, who operate the Mental Health Support Service, to maximise opportunities to promote the service to employers.

Social Mobility Commission

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answers by Lord Henley on 24 January (HL Deb, cols 547–9), what responsibilities the Social Mobility Commission retains for the issue of child poverty since that issue was removed from its title and explicit remit by the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016.

Lord Henley: I have written to the Honourable Lady to clarify the response I gave on 24 January; a copy has been placed in the library.

Child Poverty Unit

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Child Poverty Unit continues to exist as a separate identifiable unit since its transfer to the Department for Work and Pensions; if so, how many full-time equivalent (FTE) staff are employed in the Unit; and if not, how many FTE staff have responsibility for child poverty within the Department.

Lord Henley: The Department for Work and Pensions is leading cross-government work to develop our forthcoming green paper on social justice. This will set out the Government’s approach to tackling child poverty and disadvantage and involves a wide range of policy and analytical staff from a number of key Departments including the Department for Education, the Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department of Health. Many of these staff work flexibly, dependant on work flows, and as a result we are unable to provide an FTE figure.

Housing Benefit: Supported Housing

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the plans outlined by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Spending Review to cap the amount of rent that Housing Benefit will cover in the social sector to the relevant Local Housing Allowance (LHA), whether they will ensure that ring-fenced funding for local authorities will meet the shortfall between LHA rates and the cost of provision of supported housing.

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the plans outlined by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Spending Review to cap the amount of rent that Housing Benefit will cover in the social sector to the relevant Local Housing Allowance (LHA), what assessment they have made of the impact of the proposed application of the cap on supported housing providers based in those parts of the country where there is a significant gap between LHA rates and the cost of provision.

Lord Henley: In his Written Ministerial Statement to the House of Commons on 15th September 2016 the Secretary of State confirmed that the new funding model will ensure that the supported housing sector will be funded at the same level it would have otherwise been in 2019/20, taking into account the effect of Government policy on social sector rents.An online consultation on this new model seeking the views of the sector was launched on 21st November 2016 and will run until 13th February 2017 and can be accessed from the Gov.UK website.

Social Security Benefits: Refugees

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government,further to the Written Answer by Lord Freud on 14 December 2016 (HL3927), what the new process being piloted by the Department for Work and Pensions in conjunction with the Home Office consists of; what evaluation has been made of its impact; whether that evaluation will be published; and if so, when.

Lord Henley: The pilot aims to assist asylum applicants who have been granted leave to remain in the UK to make contact with DWP at the earliest opportunity. Once a customer who has been granted leave to remain in the UK ceases to be eligible for UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) financial support they will be contacted by UKVI to establish whether they would like any assistance with making an appointment with DWP. If they indicate that they would need assistance then UKVI will contact DWP on their behalf to make an appointment for them to attend their nearest jobcentre. UKVI will relay the details of this appointment back to the customer and will ensure that they are aware of the information that they need to take with them. The pilot is expected to run to the end of February 2017 and will be reviewed to determine if this additional support has facilitated a better transition from asylum support to mainstream benefits. This will then inform the length of support UKVI should provide to all asylum applicants who are granted leave to remain. DWP will write to the Work and Pensions Select Committee with an update later this year.

Ministry of Defence

Defence: Expenditure

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the governments of NATO countries which spend less than two per cent of GDP on defence.

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the Prime Minister's statement that the President of the United States is 100 per cent behind NATO, what pressure they are placing on those NATO members which do not contribute two per cent of their GDP to defence.

Earl Howe: The United Kingdom meets the Defence Investment Pledge from the NATO summit in Wales, and has committed to do so for the rest of this decade. NATO's ability to deter potential adversaries requires modern capabilities, and these need appropriate funding. Government ministers regularly encourage Allies to fulfil the commitments they have made to spend two per cent of GDP on defence by 2024 (and 20 per cent of that on equipment). Better burden-sharing is an important issue for the new US Administration, and we expect this to be a focus of discussion at the NATO Defence Ministerial Meeting later this month.

Home Office

Police: Bureaucracy

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent representations they have received on the amount of time spent by police officers on paperwork each year.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The Home Office has received no recent representations on this subject.

Refugees: Children

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 25 January (HL Deb, col 665–6), what assessment they have made of whether refugee children who have been reported as having gone missing are likely to have become victims of human trafficking and exploitation; and what measures they and their European partners have taken to protect such children.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: In 2016, we transferred over 900 unaccompanied minors to the UK from Europe, including more than 750 from France as part of the UK’s support for the Calais camp clearance. Many have been reunited with family members already in the UK, while others are being cared for by local authorities across the UK.The primary responsibility for unaccompanied children in Europe lies with the State in which they are present. The Government has established a £10 million Refugee Children Fund for Europe to support the needs of vulnerable refugee and migrant children arriving in Europe. We have also created a Child Trafficking Protection Fund of up to £3m, which seeks to fund work at a local, regional or national level, adding value to the existing provisions for child victims of modern slavery, including trafficking. The fund will help victim support and recovery, which might include specialist care to trafficked children. It will also reduce vulnerability to exploitation, for example by tackling the problem of trafficked children going missing after identification in the UK, and possibly being re-trafficked.My honourable Friend, Robert Goodwill’s joint Written Ministerial Statement with Edward Timpson on 1 November committed the Government to publishing a strategy for the safeguarding of unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee children in England; and the children who have been identified for transfer from Europe.

Asylum: Children

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the strategy for safeguarding unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee children announced on 1 November 2016 will include financial support to local authorities which undertake safeguarding assessments as part of the procedures for family reunification under the Dublin III Regulation.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Funding from the Controlling Migration Fund has been made available to local authorities that conducted family assessments during the Calais camp clearance as part of the procedures for family reunification under the Dublin III Regulation. The wider review of the funding provided to local authorities for the care and support of unaccompanied asylum seeking children will consider the costs to local authorities from conducting family assessments for future family reunification cases.

Asylum: Uganda

Baroness Barker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many LGBT asylum seekers from Uganda have been held in UK detention centres in each of the last three years.

Baroness Barker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the average length of detention of LGBT people seeking asylum from Uganda in each of the last three years.

Baroness Barker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many LGBT people seeking asylum from Uganda have been refused leave to remain in the UK during the last three years.

Baroness Barker: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many LGBT people seeking asylum have been deported to Uganda during the last three years.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The Code of Practice for Official Statistics has established common standards to ensure a coherent and trustworthy service to the user of statistics. Home Office officials are continuing to review and assess information on the number of people claiming asylum where sexual orientation may form the basis of the claim, in order to ensure that any statistics produced meet the principles on both assured methodology and quality (ensuring statistical methods are consistent with scientific principles) and governing user needs.

Welfare in Detention of Vulnerable Persons Review

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Immigration, Mr Robert Goodwill on 19 January (59369), what is the timetable for the follow-up review of progress against key actions contained in the Review into the Welfare in Detention of Vulnerable Persons (Cm 9186), published in January 2016; and what resources, including staff resources, will be made available to Stephen Shaw QC to carry out the review.

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Immigration, Mr Robert Goodwill on 19 January (59369), against which key actions from the Review into the Welfare in Detention of Vulnerable Persons (Cm 9186), published in January 2016, will Stephen Shaw QC be asked to assess progress, and whether he will have any say in which key actions are included in his remit.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The follow up to the review by Stephen Shaw CBE into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons will take place in late 2017. Mr Shaw will be invited to assess the implementation of all his review recommendations. The timings and resources for the follow up review are to be agreed with Mr Shaw.

Islamic State

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Baroness Williams of Trafford on 24 January (HL Deb, col 553) in which she agreed with remarks attributed to the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of Canterbury that it is not helpful to claim that ISIS has nothing to do with Islam, but then asserted that Daesh has nothing to do with Islam, what is their position.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Daesh claim their actions in the name of Islam, but this is a twisted interpretation of a faith which holds justice, tolerance and inclusion among its core values. Daesh is self-evidently unrepresentative of the estimated 1.6 billion Muslims globally, and it is precisely because Daesh claims to be acting in the name of Islam that the numerous and vocal denunciations of the group by Muslims and Islamic organisations have resonated so powerfully. We must not tarnish the overwhelmingly peaceful majority with the virulent, sick ideology of a twisted few.

Asylum: North Korea

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether children born to one North Korean parent in the People’s Republic of China who have not acquired citizenship of either the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, or the People’s Republic of China, are treated as South Korean citizens by HM Government.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: We would consider each case on its individual merits, looking at the case-specific evidence, the law and possibly make enquiries to determine whether they have any entitlement to citizenship.   However, the starting point is that the Constitution of Republic of Korea (South Korea) stipulates that all North Koreans are citizens of the Republic of Korea Article 1 of the Republic of Korea Nationality Act provides that a person, whose father or mother was a citizen of South Korea at the time of the person’s birth, is a citizen of South Korea.

Immigration Controls

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to conduct discussions with the French and Belgian authorities about the continued hosting of UK Border Force officials in those countries following Brexit.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The bilateral agreements underpinning the juxtaposed controls are not directly affected by Britain’s membership of the EU. We are committed to working together with France and Belgium to protect our shared border and to maintain the juxtaposed controls arrangements. The French Government has repeatedly made it clear that removing the juxtaposed controls would not be in the interests of France. We continue to work closely with both French and Belgium authorities on measures to further bolster ports in northern France and Belgium. This includes not only physical security measures and technological improvements but also wider work to tackle criminal gangs involved in people trafficking.

HM Treasury

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Lord Balfe: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the UK's exit from the EU, whether the UK will cease to be a full member of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; and if so, when the Bank will relocate away from the UK.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international organisation and not an EU institution. The UK’s exit from the EU should not therefore impact on our membership of the EBRD, nor should it have any bearing on the Bank’s headquarters being located in London, which is enshrined in the EBRD’s Articles of Agreement.

Overseas Trade

Lord Inglewood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why only 530 UK companies have Authorised Economic Operator Status, compared to 6,000 in Germany, 1,500 in Holland, and 1,400 in France; and what steps they are taking to increase that number.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status is an internationally recognised quality mark indicating that a trader’s role in the international supply chain is secure, and that their customs controls and procedures are efficient and compliant. AEO status is not mandatory for businesses, but it gives quicker access to certain simplified customs procedures and in some cases the right to ‘fast-track’ shipments through some customs and safety and security procedures.AEO status was introduced across the EU in 2008. Some EU countries decided to make AEO status mandatory – both to maintain a current customs authorisation and to apply for a wider range of customs authorisations. This decision is likely to have increased interest in obtaining AEO status in those countries. In the UK we chose not to mandate the link between customs authorisations and AEO status, which allowed UK businesses to continue to enjoy current facilitations and, when appropriate, apply for new customs authorisations, without having to undergo the sometimes lengthy AEO authorisation process. For those UK businesses who choose and are eligible to obtain AEO status additional facilitations and benefits are available.The UK Government is currently exploring options to simplify customs procedures, including opportunities to streamline the AEO authorisation process and provide additional benefits.

Money Laundering: EU Law

Lord Lipsey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to announce their policy with regard to the implementation of the EU Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive; and what assessment they have made of its impact on the bookmaking sector.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The government will publish a response to its consultation on transposing the EU Fourth Money Laundering Directive, shortly. It will include a draft of the new Money Laundering Regulations and will be open for a four week consultation. The draft regulations will reflect government positions on a number of policies including whether gambling service providers are exempt from the directives requirements.

Agricultural and Fish Products: Imports

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government in 2015 what was the value in sterling of (1) UK imports from outside the EU of agricultural and fish products, and (2) UK customs duties collected by HM Revenue and Customs on those imports.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The total value in sterling for imports of Agricultural goods and Fish products from outside of the EU was £12,377,442,495.75.The total value of Customs duties collected on those goods was £408,379,330.90 and the VAT duties collected was £282,733,876.80 in 2015.

Import Duties

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty’s Government in 2015 what proportion of the aggregated value in sterling of UK imports of industrial goods and agricultural and fish products bore zero-rate customs duties.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The proportion of aggregated value in sterling of UK imports of agricultural and fish products with a zero rate of duty, from outside the EU, was 38.32% and for industrial products with a zero rate of duty was 23.33%.

Department for International Trade

Turkey: Arms Trade

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the value of British sales to Turkey of weapons and military equipment in (1) 2015, and (2) 2016; and how many forward contracts are outstanding.

Lord Price: The value of UK defence export orders to Turkey for 2015, as included in the 2015 Official Defence and Security Export Statistics, was £11 million. The figures for 2016 will be released in due course. The Department for International Trade does not hold information on outstanding forward contracts.

Overseas Trade

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are taking to expand the UK’s trade market and reduce its dependency on the EU.

Lord Price: Through our network of over 2000 staff in 109 markets around the world we work hard to identify any potential opportunities, ranging from infrastructure projects to supporting the appetite for British food and drink.DIT prioritises export promotion support by identifying best opportunities in sectors and markets around the world and where government can add most value. This allows us to focus our efforts on a number of high value areas, known as ‘High Value Campaigns’. As of January 2017 there were 200 HVCs and 80% outside of EU markets.As a priority, we will pursue a bold and ambitious Free Trade Agreement with the European Union. We will take advantage of all the opportunities available to us to ensure that Britain becomes a global leader in free trade once we leave the EU.

Arms Trade: Ukraine

Lord Oates: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is their policy to prohibit the export of arms to the government of Ukraine.

Lord Price: There is no Arms Embargo on Ukraine. All Export Licence applications, including those for exports of arms to the government of Ukraine, are rigorously assessed against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking into account all prevailing circumstances at the time of application.A Licence will not be granted if doing so, would contravene the Consolidated Criteria.

Department of Health

Allergies

Baroness Healy of Primrose Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what tuition is given to undergraduate medical students in England and Wales on the subject of allergies and associated conditions.

Lord O'Shaughnessy: The Department does not hold this information. It is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC) to set the standards and outcomes for education and training and approve training curricula to ensure newly qualified healthcare professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide high quality patient care. Higher education institutions are responsible for ensuring the programmes they provide allow medical students to meet the outcomes set out by the GMC upon graduation.

Prisons: Drugs

Lord Carlile of Berriew: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which prisons and youth custody sites provided new services in 2016 to deal with substance misuse.

Lord O'Shaughnessy: NHS England are responsible, through local procurement exercises, for commissioning integrated substance misuse services across the secure and detained estate for both adults and young people under 18.NHS England do not hold the information requested centrally.

NHS: Standards

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that providers of NHS specialised services comply with the terms of the service specifications published by NHS England.

Lord O'Shaughnessy: The service specification compliance process has two core components: - Each service specification will contain a set of quality indicators. The indicators will include clinical outcome metrics (these will also become the specialised service quality dashboard for that service), structure and function metrics and patient experience metrics. The indicators are being developed as a phased approach and in conjunction with the six programmes of care; and - Submission of data to Quality Dashboards. 35% of the services are currently covered by a quality dashboard with an agreed development programme to extend this to 80% between 2017 - 2019. Providers are required to submit data against the quality indicators on an annual basis and the quality dashboards on a quarterly basis via the Quality Surveillance Information System portal.

NHS: Drugs

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the proposals for a budget impact threshold being adopted by NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), how they intend to maintain guarantees regarding access within 90 days to NICE-approved medicines.

Lord O'Shaughnessy: Patients will continue to have a right in the National Health Service Constitution to drugs and treatments recommended in National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal guidance. The NHS Constitution right reflects the legal requirement on NHS commissioners to fund drugs and treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal guidance, normally within three months of publication of final guidance from NICE. There is provision for NICE to extend the timescale for the introduction of the funding requirement where there are significant barriers to implementation within the standard three month timescale. The proposed budget impact threshold that has recently been subject to public consultation is intended in part to clarify the circumstances in which it is appropriate to extend the timescale for implementation of NICE’s technology appraisal recommendations.